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Here’s the original figure, from the 1980s line. This is a genuine, vintage Rocksteady…though unfortunately, I’ve been unable to locate my original original figure, so this is one I was able to get for a very reasonable price online not too long ago.

Then we have the newer version, as seen in the current animated series. I find this one to be a lot more angular and "rough" compared to the softer/"rounder" original. Like Bebop, this version of Rocksteady is Rocksteady in nickname, not the actual character–at least originally, prior to being dubbed "Rocksteady."

And here’s the 2016 movie version, TMNT: Out of the Shadows. Like the movie Bebop, this one looks like some sort of biker or such, certainly a bruiser, and not at all like anyone I’d want to meet randomly…anywhere. Perhaps simply for having been a (CGI) character in a live-action movie, this version seems the most "believable" or "realistic" of the three, though each certainly has its place!

And here are all three versions side-by-side.

It’s rather interesting to me to consider that I’ve been around long enough, that I’ve been into TMNT long enough that there’ve been three entirely separate toy lines, such that I’ve found all three versions (originally) "on the pegs" at stores.

I’m not sure which version of these I’d prefer if I had to choose one…perhaps for nostalgia’s sake, I’d have to go with the original, even though I’m not a huge fan of the character, exactly.

Again as with Bebop, I’d much prefer to see a version based on the contemporary IDW comics series,where I feel like the characters have been handled the best of all the iterations.

Of all the “new” TMNT toys for the new 2016 sequel, the only one I really had any interest in was Kraang.

Finding the figure recently, tossed it in my cart, and let it spike my groceries cost up a bit. Can’t say I’m all that thrilled with the figure in and of itself…but I like that it has a sort of updated look/feel to the ’80s cartoon version for the body, while the “brain” looks more current cartoony. I haven’t any idea if the film character is a singular entity or if this represents simply one of a bunch of generic entities…but with the inclusion of Bebop and Rocksteady I’m “assuming” singular.

The back of the card shows other figures to look for. I’m really not interested in any of them offhand, except perhaps Casey Jones (I have the ’80s, 2003, and 2012 cartoon versions…add a 4th incarnation?) and maybe Bebop and Rocksteady…that might wait til the film’s actually out.

Five villains to six unique heroes…that 5:6 is not a bad ratio to have for a line of figures for a movie! Though I might be slightly more interested in trying to track down a set if three of the four turtles didn’t right here on this layout have variants (1. Where’s Donatello’s? 2. I like it better when there’s simply a different “version” of the four turtles in a given wave uniquely displayed on the card-backs).

It also helped a great deal that Target seemed to realize that jacking their prices up to basically $10 to Walmart and Toys R Us‘ $9 wasn’t doing so well, and so the price is back “down” (at least where I’ve seen lately).

As variants go on the TMNT toys…I’d really dig a line of these “standard” figures based on the IDW comics, in the Mateus Santolouco style!

Recently while in a Barnes & Noble, I found myself browsing the sci-fi section for the first time in ages. I think I was looking to see what selection they had of Jim Butcher books—specifically The Dresden Files.

I happened across new printings of old favorite Aliens novels.

And reference to NEW Aliens novels, just from 2014, that I hadn’t had a clue were being published.

The Aliens series is one of my all-time favorites: as prose novels go, I have more Aliens books than any other series outside of perhaps Dragonlance and Magic: The Gathering.

So the fact there are more new books is quite cool—and these will almost certainly prove to be a bit of a personal “reading project” for 2015. Meanwhile, I’ve ordered the first book (Out of the Shadows) to get a start with in December here, and see where things go. This on the heels of re-buying (yet again) a “convenience” copy of the Aliens Quadrilogy on dvd just to be able to watch while traveling.